As the U.S. works to advance its policy objectives and interests in the Western Hemisphere, the enormous potential of Brazil as a partner, and the cost of ignoring it, is often overlooked.
The most important question regarding the unfolding crisis in Venezuela is whether the Venezuelan regime will be able to successfully transition power to a more rationally managed authoritarian government that protects those who have systematically looted the country, while providing a sufficient façade of democratic process and compromise that a weary and distracted international community lends it legitimacy.
Trinidad and Tobago is, on paper, one of the Caribbean’s success stories. But the inter-related problems of gangs, corruption, and radical Islam plague the island nation.
The situation in Venezuela is often mistakenly diagnosed as principally a political or economic crisis. It is better understood as a criminal act without precedent in Latin America: the capture and systematic looting of a state, achieved by first capturing its institutions through mass mobilization and bureaucratic machinations, then increasing control of the state through military force, as the criminal nature of the act and its consequences become apparent to the nation’s citizens.
The crisis in Venezuela is a problem for the country and the region that neither international law nor existing multilateral institutions are well equipped to handle. And yet, both the United States and multilateral institutions do have plausible alternatives and may yet have the ability to play a decisive role in managing the consequences of that crisis for the region without direct intervention.
The upcoming withdrawal of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Haiti (MINUSTAH) threatens to add to the security, crime and drug trafficking challenges the Dominican Republic already faces. Here’s how the U.S. can help.
In switching allegiance from Taiwan to PRC, President Varela will likely bring more investment and support for his country. But is it a security risk for the U.S. in the region and its interests in the Canal?
President Moreno may not be a newfound ally for the U.S., but he is a reminder that today the greatest challenges to U.S. interests in the region aren’t ideological but criminality, poor governance and populism.
The Kuczynski government is struggling with growing organized crime, involved in everything from coca cultivation, narcotics trafficking and illegal mining. Here’s how the U.S. can help.
Added to the very real risk of the flow of returning Colombians and Venezuelans fleeing across the border creating a massive refugee crisis, security experts are also concerned about a possible military conflict ginned up by a wounded Maduro government.
